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A Matter of Chance
A Matter of Chance is the 16th short story in the anthology , published in June 1953. The story takes place mostly in Monaco, probably just after the Second World War. Synopsis John Linton loses all his money at the casino in Monaco and so willingly accepts an offer from one Count Deboulay of £100 to fetch a suitcase from Victoria Station and bring it back. Plot (may contain spoilers - click on expand to read) After losing all his money at the Casino at Monaco, John Linton sits on a bench outside to contemplate. He is joined by a girl whom he had noticed was watching him inside. They talk for a while and she offers to buy him a steak at Pallanca's restaurant but he turns her down. He is grateful but had not "sunk to charity". After she had gone, an elderly gentleman comes along and offers John £100 to go to London Victoria to fetch a suitcase and bring it back. It contains important letters which he must answer, says the old man who is named Count Deboulay. John thinks his luck has returned and proceeds on the mission. On the way back, he meets a travelling companion named North, who is doing a continental holiday on the cheap and they have a pleasant journey. Arriving in Monaco, John and North first go to the Villa Ariadne, which the Count Deboulay had given as his address. John gets a big surprise when he learns that the villa belongs to another person but not the Count. Puzzled, they decide to check in at a hotel first and John takes North back to the hotel he used previously, the Orient. Upon entering his room, John is confronted by two men who say they are from the Monaco Principality Secret Police. They tell him he is to leave Monaco immediately and they bundle him off on a train to Nice. From Nice, John calls North who tells him to return. Back in Monaco, North announces that he is an Interpol agent in the Currency Control Branch. He advises John to cooperate. The two men who expelled John were fakes. The Count led a gang of bank robbers. His men had cleverly switched the suitcase after customs at Dover already and so had no intention of paying John his £100 but instead simply wanted to get rid of him. However North had been watching the whole affair and had already removed the contents of the Count's suitcase: twenty thousand pounds of British currency, the loot of a bank robbery in Glasgow. North tells John there was a reward for information leading to the conviction of the gang and so John stood to do better than the Count's £100. North tells John that the Count must be worried. He had got his suitcase but the money was not in it. Now he must urgently find John to question him. North brings John to the Cafe Paris, a central location. So the Count would learn that John is back and would make his move. They do not have long to wait--the Count turns up. He offers some excuse about why he was not at the Villa Ariadne and invites John to his room at the Hotel de Paris. If John would bring his bag, the Count would keep his part of the bargain. John spots the girl keeping watch on them and he surmises that she must be yet another of the Count's accomplices and wants to confront her but North tells him to ignore her. For the Count to be arrested, he must somehow be lured outside Monaco. John follows North's instructions. He checks out of his hotel and boards a taxi and orders it to proceed to the French frontier by the Moyen Corniche. Just across the border, he orders the taxi to stop. A car had been following John all the way and this also stops. The occupants of the car are ambushed by North and French police and all are arrested. Now North introduces John to the girl. She's Margot Allenby and one of Interpol's currency control contacts and she needs a lift back to Monaco. She had spotted John with the Count and reported him to North, allowing him to set up the entire operation and had thus also kept John out of trouble. John gladly offers her a ride back--there was the matter of a steak at Pallanca's. Characters *John Linton *Count Deboulay *Margot Allenby *North Aircraft No aircraft appear in this story Ships No ships appear in this story Places Visited *Monaco **The Casino **Hotel Orient, on the Condamine **Cafe Paris **Villar Ariadne, Avenue Castellar **Pallanca Restaurant *Nice *London **Victoria Station **Grosvenor Hotel Research Notes Currency controls were introduced in the UK in 1939 following the outbreak of the Second World War so the events in this story most likely took place after 1945. Publication History References Category:Short stories Category:Other short stories Category:Adult short stories